The conditions between humans and animals are mutually beneficial. Feeding a pet is a reason to get out of bed in the morning; Removing them is an excuse for dressing, going out and getting some sun. And even though she did not ask for the responsibility and took care of a sweet, fluffy white rabbit With huge eyes is exactly what the main character in Katarina Zhus ”Bunnylovr“Needs.
Rebecca (Zhu) has what you might call a quartz life crisis. Almost friendly and struggles to pay rent, she complements her income as a personal assistant with the money she makes chatting with guys and publishing pictures of her feet on a Camming website. It is one of her clients who actually sends her the rabbit; It is a strange thing to do, and given the violent arc stories about sex work that often takes in the media, expectation is sick when Rebecca turns on her webcam to chat with John (Austin Amelio). His interest in rabbits seems to be … unusual.
But “Bunnylovr” is not the wild thriller as it suggests it may be. Zhu a quietly recognizes this excitement late in the story, when Rebecca goes on a bad advice to a horror film: The man’s hand creeps up Rebecca’s thighs when a woman screams and asks for help on the soundtrack, invisible but disturbing to hear. In the meantime, Rebecca stares the magic on the screen, as if she is thinking about her fate if she continues down this self -destructive path. She then stands up and runs out of the theater, because this is not that kind of film.
To be clear, there is an outrageous scene involving the rabbit, which Rebecca names milk. But it is more of a turning point for Rebecca’s character than for the type of movie we are watching. While Rebecca undergoes a (silent) transformation, “Bunnylovr” remains subtle throughout and uses its protagonist as a stand-in for urban stranger and loneliness at Internet age is written greatly. As Rebecca, Zhu is hesitant and indecisive. She has nowhere to be, but is always late anyway. She looks like she has something to say, but when she starts talking, she fumbles worried and says too much and nothing at the same time.
Rebecca has an IRL friend, a privileged painter named Bella (Rachel Sennott) Who doesn’t even seem to like her that much. Bella’s right and bitchy comments (Sennott stands out on bitchy comments) give “Bunnyovr” a welcome average line, as well as most of its comedies. Bella is not a total villain – that role is saved for Callous Fuckboy Carter (Jack Kilmer). But she is not a good person either, and the friction in their friendship is crucial to giving the speechless Rebecca some motivation when she spiral against a personal collapse.
Another source of drama is Rebecca’s absent father William (Perry Yung), with whom she reunites after a long period of movement after encountering him on the street. William is a deadly father with a gaming problem and a library with called VHS porn. But he is an apologetic and he tries to get to know Rebecca before it’s too late. She is more like her father than any of them would care about admitting, and she pulls out of him when her feelings become too intense and confusing. The same goes for John, who seems to be a decent enough guy-away from the entire rabbit-fetish thing, of course.
William has a redeeming quality: a black cat that keeps him company when his life decision leaves him alone in his scary bachelor’s apartment. (Again, father and daughter are more equal than they think.) He loves the cat and shows Rebecca a picture of it on his phone. Rebecca looks politely. She doesn’t tell him about milk. These nuanced emotional beats are where “Bunnyovr” shines.
Zhu places Rebecca and her story in the specific cross-cultural environment of growing up Chinese-American in New York, where she can spend time with a gagge of older Asian men who are investing in Mahjong in the park and clicks of rich children who stroked each other’s ego at a Art opening within minutes of one another. The dialogue is naturalistic, Charli XCX plays a little too high on the soundtrack, and the camera is full of shaky hand-held close-ups-all predictable features for a New York Indie like this one.
But while Zhu creates a world that feels empathetic and lived in, Rebecca as a character does not give the viewer much to work with. She has no interests, no ambitions, no hobbies. Her apartment is plain white, with nothing on the walls.
She is so unauthorized that the timeline runs with her; A major life event develops over what seems to be months, just for another character to refer to their actions “last week.”
While the discrete approach Zhu provides its debut function is authentic, it also submits even a large, dramatic development in Rebecca’s life. The result is a small thing you can hold in the palm, soft and delicate and mild.
Rating: B-
“Bunnylovr” premiered at 2025 Sundance Film festival. It is currently seeking US distribution.
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